There were a handful of discussions on selecting wood and materials, dimensioning techniques, joinery, and even some finishing. We learned how to use most of the tools available in the shop safely and effectively. The first "project" was to hand-cut a ton of dovetail joints. This was difficult.. actually, I feel like heading out to my shop right now to try my hand at it again!
The second project was a "little bench". Every student started with similar amounts of lumber and we all went through a reliable process to build a very sturdy 1'x1'x18" bench. One foot tall.. ok, more like a little stool. We had to sketch it out isometrically, by hand, leaving no detail to the imagination. Then we learned and were encouraged to utilize Google SketchUp for future prototyping and modeling. I love Google and SketchUp is just one reason why. I learned AutoCAD at Mines and was pleasantly surprised that computer drafting could be so easy! Anyway, here's my little bench.
I ended up with an interesting equilateral triangle after testing my joinery while designing the guitar case. Finger joints cut on an angle were the feature that allowed my guitar case design to be plausible. This triangular box, made up of three practice joints, turned out to be my final project.